Welcome and Overview

Summer 2008

Dear Colleagues:

I write to invite your participation in the 2008-09 data collection cycle for the Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity. The Delaware Study has matured over the past decade and is now generally acknowledged as the "tool of choice" for comparative analysis of faculty teaching loads, direct instructional cost, and separately budgeted scholarly activity, all at the level of the academic discipline. The Delaware Study is used by major data cooperatives and state agencies, including the Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE), the Southern Universities Group (SUG), the University of North Carolina System, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, among others. It is a versatile and highly useful analytical tool for making management and policy decisions, whether at the level of the academic department, institution, state, or national level.

Since 1992, over 500 institutions have elected to participate in the Delaware Study. We highly value our relationship with those colleges and universities who are already working with us, and we are eager to establish new working relationships with institutions that have not yet participated.

In preparing for the 2008-09 data collection cycle, there are two strategies that will prove helpful to both experienced and new participants. First and foremost is a visit to the "Delaware Study" web site, housed on the University of Delaware's Office of Institutional Research and Planning's home page. There you will find a description of the Study; complete data definitions and calculation conventions; sample data collection form; a walk-through for a typical academic department along with frequently asked questions; and sample national benchmarks from the Delaware Study.

A second resource available is the book, Understanding Faculty Productivity: Standards and Benchmarks for Colleges and Universities, available from Jossey Bass Publishers. I wrote the book to provide readers with a history of the evolution of the Delaware Study; specific and concrete strategies for building a cost and productivity database to support participation in the Delaware Study; and a series of case studies as to how institutions use Delaware Study benchmark data to support academic planning and resource allocation decisions. It is a highly practical book, and a useful resource to those interested in academic benchmarking.

The data collected during the 2008-09 cycle will reflect Fall 2007 faculty teaching loads and 2007-08 academic and fiscal year productivity and cost data consistent with the definitions in the instructions found on the Delaware Study web site. In order to make our benchmark reporting timely, we encourage institutions to submit their data no later than December 15, 2008. We will not accept data after January 30, 2009.

Resources on the Delaware Study's web site include the basic Delaware Study Data Collection Form, Data Definitions , and a Sample Departmental Walkthrough that answers the most frequently asked questions related to the data collection. Please contact Allison Walters (irp-cost@udel.edu) for instructions for submitting the data in Excel template format, Excel fixed column format, or fixed column ASCII format. Please understand that we intend to strictly adhere to the January 30 deadline. We want to be able to provide national benchmark data to participating institutions before the close of the 2008-09 academic year, and that necessitates earlier data collection and submission. We appreciate your cooperation.

A second factor that dictates a more timely data collection is the introduction of a new phase of Delaware Study activity. As you know, the Delaware Study provides a rich body of information on faculty teaching loads, instructional costs, and externally funded research and public service activity. The magnitude of each of these functions can be profoundly impacted by activities in which faculty engage outside of the classroom, e.g., academic advising, thesis/dissertation supervision, publishing and other scholarly activity, institutional service, etc. In order to provide a contextual basis for fully examining teaching loads, instructional costs, and externally funded research and service, the University of Delaware has been awarded a second multi-year grant from the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to expand the Delaware Study data collection to assess out-of-classroom dimensions of faculty activity. Please take the time to review this project at our web site at http://www.udel.edu/IR/focs/. The initial data collection in this area took place in Spring 2003. In order to ensure that both projects are completed in timely fashion, deadlines are extremely important.

The fee for participation in the 2008-09 cycle of the Delaware Study of Instructional Costs and Productivity is $500.

As always, should you have any questions on any facet of Delaware Study activity, please call me or drop an e-mail note to Middaugh@udel.edu. I'll look forward to working with you throughout the coming year.

Best Wishes,